


Identity

by Laarc



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Amnesia, Galra Keith (Voltron), Gen, Hurt Lance (Voltron), Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Sick Character, Space Dad Shiro (Voltron)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-23
Updated: 2017-07-01
Packaged: 2018-11-03 22:59:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 8,909
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10977150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laarc/pseuds/Laarc
Summary: A galra without a name and a paladin of Voltron do what they can to survive on an uninhabited planet.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Identidade](https://archiveofourown.org/works/10519971) by [Laarc](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Laarc/pseuds/Laarc). 



> Hello! I'm (very slowly) translating this fic to English. It was originally written in Portuguese (my mother language), and since i'm not fluent in English, i ask you to understand my grammatical limitations.
> 
> That said, i hope you all enjoy your reading!

The first thing he felt was pain.

Slowly – and quite fearful –, he touched his forehead with the tip of his fingers and stared wide-eyes at them when he saw they covered by blood. He drew the conclusion – an obvious one – that he had injured his head, which probably explaneid the throbbing pain that spread from the forehead to the back of his neck.

And which also probably explained why he couldn't remember anything, not even his own name.

What had happened?, he asked himself in thoughts while looking around, confused and slightly alarmed. He soon realized that he was inside a very small – and very damaged – spaceship, droops of blood on the walls, on the floor, and on the also very smashed control panel. With shaking hands and experiencing a lot of discomfort, he stood up and was able to open a passage to reach the outside.

The pain he felt was severe, almost unbearable, and the nausea and queasinnes it caused were making hard for him to find balance and walk, yet his will was strong and he was a stubborn creature. With small and unsteady steps, he made it to the outside and soon found himself near what looked like a rain forest. From one end, giant trees rose straight to the sky, sunlight barely making through the incredibly dense tree-tops; from the other side, a long path of twisted trunks, twigs, and fallen branches highlighted from the landscape. He looked to the damaged spaceship and even feeling a headache so terrible that he couldn't think straight, it wasn't hard at all to conclude what caused the path of destruction.

Suddenly, the sound of running water caught his attention, and he found himself following it, weakened legs making their way through the forest. It took time, but he was able to find a small stream in the end, and he knelt down by it almost imediatly, drinking water greedily.

Until then, he hadn't notice how thirsty he was, the mouth dry and the throat painfully hot.

When he was feeling better, he scooped up handfuls of water to splash over his face and neck, a hiss scaping his lips as his hands accidentally brushed the injured forehead. After a few ticks – and a few deep breaths –, he scooped more water into his hands and began cleaning the injury, the bruised neck, and the wound arms, washing away the blood and the dirt the best he could. When done he looked down the water again, facing his own reflection.

Yellow eyes and a purple face stared back at him, and he expected emotions, a sudden realization or maybe a flickers of memories. He expected to be able to feel something. Anything!

Yet, he felt nothing.

There was nothing in his mind but a terrifying blank space. Despite that, however, he knew, somehow, that he couldn't just give up. He didn't knew who he was nor where he was, let alone what had happened, but he knew that he should survive.

Survive, at all costs.

 


	2. Chapter 2

In his first day on that planet by any means familiar – and it was quite strange to think like that, since his own face wasn't familiar at all –, he found shelter near the stream, something like a tree hollow, a cavity so large that he was able to fit inside it without a problem. Feeling extremely tired, he lay down right there, on the floor, head resting on arm and knees up into a fetal position. He was hungry and his stomach growled incessantly, but the need to sleep was overwhelming and the tiredness was making impossible for him to keep his eyes open. In the end, he thought it better to rest and leave the searching for food for the next day. Before surrendering himself to sleep, however, he wondered if it would be possible for him to dream about his life before the memory loss. He wondered if it would be possible for him to remember.

Despite his wishes, no dream came that night. Much less a memory.

***

Learn what kind of vegetables or meat were edibles was basically trial and error. As the quintants went by, he learned that the small rodents which inhabited the land near the stream were quite easy to hunt, and their meat was tender and juicy. The reptiles, on the other hand, were elusive, giving him a hard time, and their tasteless meat wasn't worth the effort. He also learned that there were red roots which were somewhat bitter, but highly nutritious, and blue roots that, in spite of tasting sweet, weren't edibles – and that one, in particular, was a very unpleasant experience.

Despite the diversity of trees, which existed in all shapes and sizes, it was hard to find fruit trees. One time, however, after a long-distance hike, he was able to find a few bushes that bore lots of red and delicious berries.

During one of these hikes, while picking up fruits and trying to hunt one rodent or another for dinner, he was suddenly surprised by a loud noise. It sounded like a ferocious thunder, and he immediately looked up to the sky, worrying about a storm coming. Nevertheless, the wheater couldn't be better, sunny and cloudless, and he frowned, an uneasy felling growing in his chest. Then, all of a sudden, something crossed the sky, leaving a trail of smoke behind it. With a petrified look, he stood right there, watching the thing fall from the sky, and he almost lost balance when the massive object – a spaceship, probably – hit the ground, his body trembling in the aftershock.

Out of curiosity, he went to the crash site and gasped when he saw what looked like a huge blue robot lion lying on the ground. Astonished yellow eyes evaluated the scene, and purple hands, for several times, hesitated before touching the ship's blue metal.

_Help._

There was an unexpected whisper in his mind, a soft murmur – or a rumble, he wasn't sure –, and he narrowed his eyes.

_Please, help._

He took a step back when the blue lion opened hers mouth, and he couldn't explain why, but he had the strange feeling that she was giving him permission to... to enter.

Putting aside the apprehension and being guided solely by instinct, he entered the ship, reaching the cockpit in just a few ticks. His eyes wandered from the destroyed control panel to the loose wires and cables on the floor, and he felt them wide when he saw that there was someone there.

He ran to the unconscious humanoid lying in the command seat and very carefully shook him by the shoulders in an attempt to wake him up, but without sucess.

The humanoid being gave him no aswer and remained as unconscious as before.

Having noticed that the stranger was hurt – there was blood everywhere, and the humanoid had wounds on his face, arms, and legs –, he carried him outside and, with a improvised stretcher, returned with him to the campsite near the stream. 

_Take care of him._

He heard the voice again, whispering softly in his mind, and he briefly looked towards the stranger collapsed on the stretcher. He removed the damaged armour and cleaned the wounded skin, noticing at the same time how their bodies were differents. While he had purple skin and a furry body, wild dark hair and big ears, the stranger was considerable hairless, with a smooth light brown skin, small and delicate ears and short brown hair.

Apparently, he thought to himself, they belonged to different species.

“Do not worry.” He said suddenly, although the stranger couldn't hear the words. “I'll take care of you.”

And he did as he promised, looking after the injured creature and staying by his side all day long. Late into the night, he heard the stranger groan with pain and saw that his face was covered in sweat.

“It hurts.” The words barelly left the stranger's lips.

“You have a fever. And you're very injured.” He aswered while pressing a cold cloth against the hot forehead. “But you'll be fine.”

“What? A fever? No, no, I can't.” The stranger kept saying, his voice sounding broken and delirious. “I can't be sick, I can't stop. No, no... he... he needs me, so I can't stop. Keith... he... he... I have to keep looking for him. I must... I must find him...

“You won't be able to find anyone if you're dead.” He muttered, sounding a little annoyed, and a lot worried. “Just calm down and let me help you.”

Somehow, that worked, and the stranger did calmed down. Then, his eyelids quivered and for the first time his eyes opened. They were very beautiful, blue and intense, and were imediatly attracted to yellow eyes, staring fixedly at them.

“Galra.” There was a bit of distrust and hatred in his faint voice, and the sick stranger tried to move once again, however, his efforts were made in vain and he lost consciousness a few ticks later.

 


	3. Chapter 3

At some point that night, he also fell asleep and, for the first time, he had a dream. In the dream, a red robot lion – which was very similiar to the one he saw that day – was roaring non-stop, asking: _where are you, my paladin? Why can't I find you?_

And he aswered the lion, almost shouting: _I'm here! I'm here!_

The red lion, however, couldn't hear him. Couldn't see him. Couldn't find him. In the end, the lion walked away, leaving him alone and adrift in the vastness of space.

When he woke up – the dream completelly forgotten –, he found himself on the ground, a gun – or what looked like one – inches from his face. Feeling slightly on edge, he held his breath and tried not to make any sudden move. Very slowly, he looked up and saw the humanoid fully awake, his blue eyes full of fury, lips pressed into a thin line and finger too close to the trigger.

“Don't try anything funny, Galra.”

“I'm not trying anything,” He aswered, his voice tense and his yellow eyes narrowed. “You were quite sick yesterday. But now, I can see you are feeling better.”

A confused expression crossed the strange's face – a mix of shame and hesitation –, and the weird gun trembled in his hands.

“You helped me,” The humanoid said, clearly puzzled, “I can't remember much about yesterday, but... I remember you. And you helped me. Why?

“You needed help. It seemed like the right thing to do at the time,” He shrugged, and the answer seemed to leave the stranger even more confused than before.

“But... but...” The humanoid stuttered and lowered the weapon. “You're a galra!”

“Galra? You called me that before. Does that mean you know me? Do you know who I am? Is that my name? Galra?”

“What? No! Of course not!” The stranger exclaimed. “It's a species. You're a galra. Didn't you know that? How can you not know what you are?

The questions made him very angry. The lack of aswers about his own life really bothered him.

“I just don't know,” He replied, feeling upset, “I don't remember. I... I don't remember my name. I don't know who I am."

The humanoid listened everything in silence, a hand under his chin and eyes watchful.

“A galra with memory loss? Who would believe it?” The stranger said then, a few ticks later, and a cocky smile curled his thin lips. “I think this must be a good thing.”

The comment, so nonchalant and casual, made him angrier than ever.

“A good think? A good think for who?” He almost shouted, hands clenched tightly into fists. “I don't have a name anymore. I don't have... a meaning. I'm here on this planet without knowing a thing about myself. And... what if a was in the middle of a mission? How will I be able to complete it? And how about my family? Because... because I must have one, right? What if they are looking for me? What if they think that I... ...I died? I don't know... I don't know, and I hate it!” He admited, full of angst, and saw blame in the strange's blue eyes.

“I'm sorry. That's not what I meant,” The humanoid muttered, ashamed for his words. “It's just that... we... my friends and I fight the galra. You're like... err... the bad guys! Like really, really bad guys. You slave, and destroy planets and civilizations, and turture everybody, are you following me? Not to mention that your crazy leader Zarkon wants to rule the universe and all that jazz, and that's not cool, man. Not cool at all. You're really bad and, I don't know. It's good for me that you can't remember because, if you could, you wouldn't help me. And, if you hadn't helped me, I'd probably be dead now. You saved my life.”

It was surreal – and almost absurd – to hear that, to know that he belonged to a species so cruel and hated. It was utter nonsense to hear that he would have killed that creature in front of him if not for the memory loss. It was outrageous to think that he would enjoy killing and torturing people, because he knew that he'd never do anything like that. He might not know his own name, but he knew his heart.

And he was no monster. Let alone followed orders from a megalomaniac bastard.

“Maybe not all galras are bad guys,” He said, his voice sounding a little shy and sad. But quite hopeful.

“I doubt that. I've never seen a good galra.”

“What? Never?” He asked, feeling utterly lost and unhappy.

The stranger most likely noticed that, because he soon added:

“But I don't know many galras, so... yeah! Maybe there could be... err... galras that are against Zarkon and his stupid empire. Just because I never saw one does not mean that they don't exist, right? It's just like on Earth, that's my planet, by the way. There're a lot of good people there, but there're also a lot of bad people. So, since there're good humans and bad humans, there can be good galras and bad galras. And you, my furry friend, must be one of the good guys. Luck me!” The human conclued his very akward speech with a grin, and the galra didn't said a thing for a while.

He considered the words and forced himself to believe in them. 

As the human've said, if he was a galra, he was definitely one of the good ones. 

He had to be.

“And since we are, apparently, on the same side,” The other one said suddenly, making him startle a bit. “Do you, by any means, remember where is Blue?”

“Blue? What is it?”

“My Lion! You know, a big robot blue lion...”

“You call your spaceship... Blue?"

“Sure! It's her name! It perfectly matches her unique personality. And her colors, obviously. We... we had some trouble on our last battle and she suffered great damage. We ended up here, as you already know,” His voice trembled, and a sad smile shaped itself on his lips. “I need to see her. I really, really need to see her and, you know, try to contact my teammates. If I could reach them, we could be rescued! And then we could help you with your memory problem! What do you think?"

“Help me?” The galra asked, confused and a bit suspicious. “Why? You just said that I'm a galra. An enemy. Why would you help me?”

“And I remember saying that we are on the same side. Besides, I'm in your debt, man! You helped me, saved my life! It's my turn to help you, okay? We're buddies, now!”

The human gave a radiant smiled and offered his hand.

“My name is Lance,” He kept saying. “Come on! You have to shake my hand. Handshake is a common greeting on Earth.

They shook hands, then, and there was something strangelly familar about the gesture.

“I have no name to offer you.”

Lance chuckled softly.

“No problem, buddy. I'll come up with a name for you. How about Good Galra?

The Galra frowned, obviously displeased.

“You can't call me that. It's stupid.”

“Stupid? Of course it isn't stupid! It makes complete sense: you're a galra and you're good. So, Good Galra! Why didn't you like it?"

A small snort escaped the galra's purple lips.

“Or I always could call you Mullet Galra, because seriously, are the eighties back or something? First Keith, and now you! Are mullets a thing now?

“Mullet?” Albeit confused, the galra touched his own hair in what appeared to be an unaware gesture. “You know what, call me whatever you want. I don't care.” He turned his face away. After a while, however, he was again staring at Lance and watching the injured human with increased attention. “Your lion is not very far, but it's still quite a walk. Are you sure you're up to it? You could take a rest today and, tomorrow, we could go.

The human didn't like the suggestion.

“And leave Blue on her own? Are you crazy?”

“Nothing bad will happen to her,” The Galra promised. “There's no one here but us. No one will attack or try to hijack her. It'll be fine.”

For a tick, maybe two, Lance considered the idea. But the uncertainty and the worry he felt for the lion were strong.

“I don't know. I'd feel better if I could see her now.

The galra sighed and raised a hand, pointing the way.

“If that's so, come on,” He murmured. “Let's go to your ship. You asked, so don't complain if you feel too tired.

“I won't!” He assured the galra, all cocky and smug. “There're many things you don't know about me, Good Galra, and the first one is that i'm tireless!” Exuding confidence, he took two steeps forwards and passed out right there.

Once again, the galra sighed.

“Tireless,” He chuckled to himself and knelt down beside the unconscious human. “Yeah, of course you are. Idiot.”

  


 


	4. Chapter 4

The night had already fallen when Lance woke up. It took a while for him to open his eyes after regaining consciousness, and when he did it, he looked a bit confused, his memories of what had happened during the day foggy and fuzzy. However, the sight of a familiar purple face was enough to dissipate the fog and the shadows in his mind.

“Hey, Good Galra,” He whispered and slowly raised his head, trying to sit up.

“You shouldn't do that,” The Galra warned him. “You have a fever... a bad one, and your body is weak. It would be better for you to rest more.”

Lance didn't argue. With a nod, he laid his head and closed his eyes again.

“Guess that's why I feel like shit. And cold,” He was shivering from head to toe, and started rubbing his own arms to warm up. “Is it just me, or is it freezing here?”

The Galra got closer to him and put a hand on his forehead.

“It's not freezing. Actually, it's quite nice. I suppose you feel like that because of the fever. You say you're cold... but your skin feels really hot,” He turned his back to the human boy and started a small fire. Later, the Galra got some water and offered some to Lance. “You didn't drink enough water during the day. Come on, you need to drink it now while you're conscious. The water will help with the fever.”

Despite the difficulties – his throat felt like fire and hurt so bad he wanted to cry –, Lance did exactly as told and took small sips of water.

“Thanks, buddy,” He whispered, his voice haspy, and he looked the Galra in the eyes. “And sorry about before. Guess I'm not so tireless as I thought.

The Galra snorted with amusement.

“I told you so. But did you hear me? No, you didn't. What an idiot... fell face first into the ground.”

“Ow, rude, man! No need to rub it in! I've already admitted I was wrong, so give the sick guy a break, okay?” Lance huffed and holled eyes at the Galra. After a while – a few ticks, nothing more –, his face softened, becoming almost sad. “What about tomorrow? Do you think we'll be able to go to Blue?”

“Maybe. That depends on you. If you feel better tomorrow, sure, ” The Galra said and waited in silence for Lance to say something. When the human stayed silent, he went on: “Do you really miss her, right? I mean, your ship. The blue lion.”

“I need to know if she's doing okay. I... I don't think she'll be able to fly. She was pretty damaged and... and I doubt I'll able to fix her. I've never been very good with it, you know. Maybe Hunk or Pidge would know what to do and how to fix her, but... not me. But I think that I can send a message to my team. Or a signal. And they'll came rescue us,” He stopped talking then and took a huge breath. “We were in the middle of something important and... and I can't just stop now.”

The Galra nodded, paying attention at everything Lance said.

“You mentioned a battle before. Was your ship damaged during a war or something?

“You can say that. As I said, we fight the Galra, so... yeah! We're kind at war against them. And it was a Galra ship that hit Blue. But I wasn't referring to that. To the war against the Galra, I mean. The truth is... well... right now, we're looking for a friend. He was captured, I don't know, months ago, I guess.

“The Galra took him?”

“Yeah,” Lance said with a pitiful expression, blue eyes filled with sorrow and hopelessness. “We'd been selected for a misson. It should've been easy, nothing we haven't done before. All we'd to do was enter a Galra ship, collect information and leave. Simple like that. But... it was all but simple. Something went wrong during the mission and, suddenly, the alarm was triggered, sirens were blasting around us, and Galra soldiers were appearing from nowhere. I ended up shot and really hurt... ...and Keith, that idiot, he had to play hero! He'd made himself bait to draw the soldiers to him and allow me to escape. In the end, the Galra proved to be too much for Keith to handle alone.

“I'm sorry for your friend,” The Galra said, sincerely. “I hope you can find him.”

A sad smile turned Lance's lips.

“Me too, Good Galra. Me too.” The human boy agreed, feeling a little down. But then, his eyes brighted suddenly. “We're all worried about him, but knowing Keith the way I do, he's probably doing fine. He is a tough guy and must be annoying the hell out of those purple jerks,” He took a quick glance at the Galra and offered him an apologetic smile. “No offense, man!”

The Galra laughed.

“None taken.”

Lance laughed too and stared fixedly at the purple alien by his side.

“You know what? You kind of remind me of him. Must be the mullet. God, what a terrible hairstyle!” He laughed more, loudly, but there was still a bit of sadness in his voice.

“You two sound like good friends,” The Galra remarked. “He risked his own life for your safety, and now you're doing everything to find him and save him from the enemy.

The words hung in the air for a while and when hit Lance, they did something to the boy. His blue eyes changed all of a sudden, becoming even sadder than before, the color quickly left his dark-skinned face, and his lips trembled.

“I...” He tried to say, but, in the end, he decided to stay silent.

The Galra didn't understand the unexpected change in Lance and soon asked:

“What happened? Did I say something wrong?”

“No,” Lance spoke in a low voice. “But maybe I... I think that it was me who said the wrong thing. I was so stupid and I was, like, so in denial that I... that I ruined everything between us. It's my fault he was captured.”

With a frowning face, the Galra asked again:

“What are you talking about? He did what he judged to be right. How can you blame yourself for his choice?”

Lance huffed, irritated.

“Can we just stop talking about this?” He turned his face, avoiding the Galra. “I'm not feeling well and... I don't wanna talk anymore. I'm going to sleep, okay?

The Galra shrugged and said nothing, allowing the human the silence he needed. Noticing that the fire was starting to die, he collect a few more sticks and small branches and put them into it, smiling softly when the fire blazed strong, giving warmth to the place. Then, he laid himself down and glanced at Lance for a few ticks before falling asleep.

For the second time, he dreamt. The dream, however, didn't involved a red lion anymore, but something way more sinister. There was a creature in front of him, with scary yellow eyes, hands that looked like claws, and a smile so vile that it gave him chills.

_You're a stubborn one, red paladin_ , the creature said, its voice full of malice. _But this defiance of yours won't do you no good. Sooner or later, paladin, you'll crumble._

He tried really hard to ignore the creature before him, tried to not listen to the words, and tried to fight against the bonds that tied his arms and legs, restraing his body and leaving himself at its mercy. Suddenly, sharp claws scratched his skin, making him bleed, and the creature whispered something he couldn't understand. Energy flickered across his skin, and he felt a pain so intense that he thought he was going to die.

The nightmare woke him up, his hands shaking hard and his head spinning. Feeling sick, he left the shelter in a hurry and threw up on the grass.

“What's going on? Good Galra? Is everything okay?”

He heard Lance's sleepy voice, but wasn't able to answer the human.

“Good Galra, what is-- ow! Ow, man! The hell? Are you sick or something?” Lance approached and helped the Galra reach the stream.

“I don't think so” He answered after washing his mouth. “I had a nightmare, I think.”

Lance whistled, impressed.

“It must have been a hell of a nightmare.”

“It was so real,” The Galra stared at his own hands and arms and remembered the creature from his dream.

And remembered the pain.

His body shuddered.

“Lance,” He said seriously. “It was too real to be only a nightmare.”

“What do you mean?” The human asked, his dark skinned face frowned. “Do you think it could be... i don't know... maybe something like a memory?

“If it was indeed a memory,” The Galra answered, and his yellow eyes traveled to the remains of the damaged spaceship that had brought him to that planet. “Then I may have a theory about what happened to me. Just like your friend, I also were made prisoner by the Galra. But, somehow, I was able to escape them.”

 


	5. Chapter 5

“I don't know, maybe you are some kind of spy. Or a traitor to the empire.”

Lance said whislt helping the galra with peeling some tubers – that he'd decided to call space potatoes – and cooking breakfast. They were both seated around the bonfire, and the galra had just told Lance everything he remembered about the nightmare: the torture he endured under the hands of that frightening creature, the pain, the panic, and the crippling feeling that death was imminent. He also remembered the creature talking to him – and its chilling voice was something that he would never forget – but the words were completely lost to him.

“Maybe that was why Zarkon had you imprisoned and tortured,” The human kept talking, trying a theory after another. “Have you thought about that? Maybe I was right all along, and you really are a good galra! And maybe for not accepting his rule, you were imprisoned and used as an example to others. Just like in the movies, you know, when the bad guys want to show what happens to those that are against them.”

The galra frowned, confused by Lance's words, but nodded anyway.

“Yeah... maybe you're right, Lance,” His voice sounded like a whisper. “I wish I could remember more, but... It's so hard. Everything is a blur, and all I can recall is that weird creature and how it scared me.”

“Which is utterly understandable,” Lance readly agreed. “Galras are very scary creatures,” And then, as if noticing what he had just said – and to whom –, he immediately tried to take back his words. “Except you! You aren't scary at all. Just a little.”

There was a small twitch in the galra's lips, something that resembled a smile, but the alien remained silent, sometimes facing the earthling, sometimes focusing on cooking. When the meal was ready, they ate together, slowly and in silence, exchanging tired glances from time to time. At a certain moment, the galra looked away from Lance and faced the sky.

He sighed deeply before talking.

“You look much better than yesterday,” He observed, and the human nodded.

“I feel much better,” Lance smiled broadly and flexed his arms, showing off his muscles.

At the sight, the galra fought the urge to roll his eyes.

“We could try to reach your lion. Do you think you'll be able to do it? Or are you going to pass out like last time?” There was a hint of teasing in his voice, and Lance crossed his arms and pouted like a spoiled child.

“What? Of course I can do it! I told you! I'm feeling way better than before. This walk to Blue will be a piece of cake,” He assured, speaking firmly and with a decisive voice. “And you know what? We can go right now!”

Lance wasted no time and stood up, stretching his legs and arms. Seeing that the galra barely moved, he got closer to him and gave the alien's giant ear a flick, provoking him.

“Stop that!” The galra almost shouted, slapping the human's hand away and getting up. “How can you be so annoying?”

Lance laughed loudly.

“Come on, Good Galra! Blue must be asking herself where in the world is her paladin. And what if she starts thinking that I've left her behind? No, no, buddy! My girl is very needy, that's why we have to go to her. And we have to go now. No time to lose.”

Still feeling quite annoyed with Lance, the galra merely sighed and started walking.

“Follow me,” He said, entering the forest and following the trail to Lance's spaceship. Noticing that the human boy was limping right behind him, he took a stick from the ground and offered it to Lance. “To help you.” He said and, for some reason, felt his own face getting really hot. “You can use it as a walking-stick.”

A smile as bright as the sun came up on the human's face.

“Ow, Good Galra! I didn't know that there was a gentleman behind that grumpy face of yours!” He winked all flirty at the purple alien, making him blush and stutter a little.

“Shut up.”

Infuriated and embarassed, the galra turned his face away from Lance and quickened his pace, speeding up through the forest and, little by little, leaving Lance behind.

“Hey!” The human shouted. “Come on! No need to run, I'm limping here! Slow down! I thought you were a good guy, but that's not being good at all! Running like that and leaving a crippled man behind is totally evil, man!”

“So shut up and stop annoying the hell out of me,” He huffed, still angry, but started walking slower. When Lance was by his side, he grumbled: “Idiot.”

***

Contrary, however, to what Lance expected, Blue wasn't as close as the galra had told him, and they walked what felt like endless miles until they were able to reach the damaged lion. At some point during the hike, Lance started feeling extremelly tired and sweat and sore as hell, and was truly considering asking the galra for them to take a break and stop for a few minutes – or an hour, maybe, because, come on! He had almost died the day before –, when, suddenly, he felt a well known presence in his mind.

It was extremely pleasant, warm and so familiar and cherished that felt like crying from happiness.

It was Blue, and he was sure of it.

The thought of finally finding Blue gave him renewed strength, and the paladin put aside all the tiredness and pain that he'd been feeling in a blink of an eye. Almost bursting from joy, he ran to her as fast as his injured body allowed.

“Did you miss me? Cause I missed you like crazy, beautiful,” He said tenderly, his fingers touching her metalic jaw. “My beautiful, beautiful girl,”

In his head, the lion purred happily.

“I'm so sorry for leaving you alone back there,” Lance kept murmuring. “But I want you to know that I'll never do it again.”

“Is she okay?” The galta asked, and Lance heard him well, but didn't acknowledged his question. “Do you think you'll be able to contact your friends now? What about a rescue”

“Hey, can't you see we are having a moment here?” The human sounded bored and waved a hand in dismissal. “So, wait a minute, okay?”

The young galra sighed with impatience, but said nothing. Then, he felt something like a tingle in his head and looked startled at the lion on the ground.

_Thank you for taking care of him._

Once again, the giant lion was talking inside his head, and that, strange as it sounded, didn't made him uneasy. The metalic beast's presence was good and soothing, and the galra found that he didn't mind that too much. With a small smile and a nod, he aswered the lion, and retreated a few steps when Blue opened her immense jaw.

“Good Galra, let's get inside!” Lance invited him, gesturing for the galra to come closer. “Blue said that she doesn't mind your purpleness!”

“My purpleness?” The alien murmured, frowning, but followed Lance into the ship.

In a few ticks, they reached the cockpit, and the galra noticed that it was just as he remembered it, all messy and wrecked and dirty, the walls, floor and panels soaked with blood.

Lance's blood.

Slightly worried about the human, he turned his face in Lance's direction, who looked almost sick, face pale – as if suddenly devoided of color –, eyes wide and scared, and hands shaking and sweat.

“Well, this doesn't look good,” Lance whispered with a trembling voice, blue eyes fixed firmly on the wrecked panel. “It doesn' look good at all.”

“But... do you think you could, i don't know, fix it?” The galra asked, and Lance made an unsure gesture with his head.

“Hard to say,” The human murmured while running his hand through the panel. He pressed a few buttons, tried some keys in the keyboard and sighed with relief when the panel lighted up. He tried a few more keys and, after a short while, faced the galra. “So it's looking like Blue doesn't have enough power to fly, however, we got power enough to turn on the communicators, which is great!” He pressed a button, and then another, and started talking. “Hey, guys, this is me! Lance! Do you copy? Apparently I'm not dead, but I do need a little help here. And since Blue isn't feeling like flying right now, a rescue would be awesome! So... guys? Shiro? Hunk, buddy? Pidge? This is Lance. Do you copy? Can someone... can someone hear me? Shiro? Allura? Please, guys, tell me if you copy.”

He waited, but static was his only aswer.

It was a terrifying sound.

“This is Lance. Shiro, do you copy? Guys, please... do you copy? I'm... I'm here... I'm alive and... and you're looking for me, right? Please, please be looking for me.”

He tried again. And again. And again. He tried for hours, until his throat hurt and his voice become hoarse. However, there was no aswer.

Only static.

“Shiro... Hunk... Pidge... come on, guys...” He coughed, his throat dry and burning, but, despite the soreness, he refused to stop. “I fell on this planet and had something like an almost brush with death, but I'm fine now! So, no need to worry. Actually, yes need to worry, because Blue is out of commission and I really, really want out of here! If you are receiving this transmission, I need you to respond! Please respond!”

“Lance,” The galra said with concern and a bit of sadness, and placed a purple hand gently on Lance's shoulder. “I don't think it's working.”

“But it will work! They'll receive this transmission and... and they'll come for me!” Lance talked back with an unusual rage, the exhaustion and soreness and frustration giving rise to an anger he'd never felt before. With a snarl, he pushed away the hand on his shoulder. “Do you hear me? They'll come for me.”

“Of course they will,” The galra noticed how the human was upset and jumpy, and tried his best to not make things worse. “But what about take a break? It's getting dark, and I've never spent the night in this part of the forest before. I don't know if we'll be safe here. We could get back to the camp site and return here tomorrow morning. What do you think? It's a good plan, right?”

“If you want to leave, just leave. I don't care!” The aswer sounded as harsh as before, and the galra gritted his teeth, becoming more and more irritated with Lance.

“You're frustrated, I know,” He said to the human with what remained of patience, clenched fists and scrunched up eyes. “You were hoping to reach your friends, and now that you didn't succeed you're feeling frustrated. I got it, really! But you have no right to lash out on me like that. So why don't you lose the attitude and stop behaving like an idiot.”

He, then grabbed Lance by the arm, and that was clearly the wrong thing to do, because Lance shouted and shoved the galra hard enough to make him stumble back.

“And who do you think you are to tell me what to do?” Growled Lance, face all red and eyes blazing. “Who do you think you are to tell me how I feel? You don't know what happened to us and you have no idea what I'm going through right now!”

Suddenly, it was too much for Lance. It was too much for him to bottle up anymore. And he knew it was wrong to take it out on the galra like that, but he couldn't find himself to care.

“You are nothing but a stupid galra who don't even know your own name! So don't you dare tell me what I have to do! And do you know what? I won't give up! I'll keep trying and trying and trying to reach my team, because, unlike you, I have friends who care for me!”

The shout – so full of fury and distress – reverberated on the cabin, and for a moment too long, neither dared speak a single word. They just kept looking at each other, blue eyes slit in anger and yellow eyes dangerously darkened.

“Do whatever you want. See if I care,” The galra decided to break the silence and spat the words.

And then, he just left, leaving Lance alone in the cockpit.  
  


 


	6. Chapter 6

Feeling more frustrated than angered, the galra stormed out of the blue lion. He shouted a few insults, threw a rock or another and punched a tree trunk until his hands bleed.

“Idiot!” He growled to himself. “Idiot, idiot, idiot!”

He blew a stream of air through his nose, flattened wounded hands against the rough wood and took a huge breath. Looking over his shoulder at the lion, he growed once more:

“Stupid human.”

Suddenly, he felt Blue in his head, and his yellow eyes softened when he noticed how sad and concerned she was.

In his mind, the lion was apologizing on Lance's behalf.

“It's okay, girl. You did nothing wrong,” The galra grunted. “It's not your fault your pilot is a complete jerk.”

_A lot happened and... he is suffering. His heart is heavy._

The galra frowned upon her.

“His suffering doesn't give him the right to take it out on me like that. All I did was help him. And how did he thank me?

The lion said nothing, but the galra could still feel a mournful presence pulsing in his mind. Infuriated with Lance, he threw a few more punches in a flurry of anger and later, noticing that nightfall had just set in, he decided going back to the camp site. Full of resolve – and maybe a little stubbornness too –, he marched through the woods, his loud footsteps echoing as he walked away, however, when he was halfway to the camp, he suddenly stopped and looked back. It was impossible to see the blue lion anymore, impossible to hear her purring or to feel her presence in his mind. It was also impossible to know how her or Lance – the ungrateful bastard – were doing there, all alone, and the sudden thought made him turn around and go back to where the lion was, cursing Lance – and everything about the human – all the way back.

As soon as he reached the blue lion, the galra sat down near a giant and damaged paw and rested his back against the cool surface, closing his eyes when feeling the energy that pulsed through the sentient spaceship.

“How can someone be so... so stupid and stubborn?” He asked himself and dared open one eye, looking at the lion's muzzle. “Your human is the worst, you know?”

He kept grumbling and muttering under his breath until his eyes became too heavy and his words came out slurred and barely audible. Sleep came fast and deep for him, and so did dreams. Dreams of faces he couldn't remember and places he could swear he'd never seen before. And then, still dreaming, he found himself drifting in space, immersed in darkness and protected from the vacuum by somekind of spacesuit.

He breathed, and the breathing noise filled his ears like a desert storm, the sound scaring and soothing him at the same time, and his heart beat strong and violent and faster than normal, thumping like a hammer in his rib cage. Suddenly, there was a glimmer of light, and for a brief moment, he was able to see his own face reflected on the inside of the visor's helmet. He expected to meet his own yellow eyes – the ones he remember so clearly –, but what he saw shocked him.

Blue-gray eyes stared back at him.

Eyes of a stranger.

“Did you seriously sleep here all night?”

He woke up with a start, agitated and gasping for air, but relaxed a little as soon as he saw who was in front of him, the dream images already vanishing.

“Lance,” The galra murmured, sleepy, and when he remembered he was still mad with the human, he scowled at him. “What do you want?”

“I...” Lance started and hesitated, and the galra noticed not only the ashamed look on his tanned face, but also how exhausted he looked, the morning light accentuating the tired lines around his slightly red eyes. After taking a deep breath, the paladin continued: “I tried all night, but I couldn't reach them. There was only static.”

The galra nodded briskly and tried to keep the scowl on his face, but the sadness on the human's voice made him feel a pang of sympathy.

His anger died quickly.

“I'm sorry.”

“Anyway, I sent out a distress signal,” Lance said, and the galra nodded again. “I just hope that my team can pick up the signal before a galra ship does. I think it would suck, you know, if the galra found us first. Me being a paladin of Voltron, and you being a fugitive and all that jazz.”

The galra merely agreed, but said nothing, and kept staring at Lance. He saw the blue paladin fidget a little, biting the inside of his cheek and twitching his fingers nervously. And saw the pilot tilt his face and look at him in the eyes.

“I know you think I'm the the biggest jerk ever, but I'm not. And since I'm not a jerk, I know when I own someone an apology. And... I own you one,” Lance sighed. “You were right. I had no right to lash out on you like I did and, for that, I'm really, really sorry. I acted like an asshole and said despicable things to you, things that you didn't deserve to hear and... yeah! That pretty much sums it up.” The galra kept quiet, only listening to Lance apologize, and the paladin, after a deep sigh, continued, his voice sounding almost defeated: “I've been through a lot, recently.” He made another pause, breathed long and slowly and sat beside the galra. “I've been feeling a lot of anxiety and pressure and anger and frustration and... and guilt. God! The guilt! Sometimes I think I'm going to... I don't know, explode or something,” He ran a hand through his face covered in scratches and, later, rubbed his sore leg. “Have you ever wanted to turn back time? To change things. To... maybe... change the past?

“I... I don't know,” The galra answered and saw Lance blink back a few tears.

“I do. I even dreamt about it once... and, man, it was so hard to wake up and face reality. You have no idea how tempted I was to... to just sleep forever.”

“Is this about your friend?” The galra asked tentatively. “The one you told me about. The one who risked his own life for you. Is that why you feel so much... ...guilt?”

“Here's the deal. We weren't exactly friends,” Lance told him, sounding a bit exasperated. “I mean... we're friends, but, at the begining, we were something like rivals. I'm a competitive person, and Keith's a competitive person, so we did that! We competed agains each other in... in pretty much everything. But, as time went on, this crazy rivalry became something like a crazy friendship... and when I realized, we'd become good friends. But then, one fine day he turned to me and, like it was the most normal thing ever, the bastard said: _hey, Lance, since we're a team and we shouldn't keep secrets from each other, I want to say that I like you as more than a friend_. Now I ask you, Good Galra, what the hell? How could he say something like that? Like... like totally out of the blue, man! Come on! Who does that?”

Lance became extremelly agitated while talking, his voice rising more and more and his hands gesticulating wildly. The Galra, on the other hand, remained silent, just listening carefully while the paladin opened his heart.

“I never thought about boys that way,” Lance kept going, still talking as agitated as before. “But not because I've anything against it. No, I--I don't. There's this cousin of mine who has a boyfriend, or had a boyfriend, I don't know anymore, it's been ages since we saw each other. And my uncle divorced three times before finding out he was gay. Last time I saw him, he was living with this guy and... man, think about someone who was genuinely happy! But, the truth is... I'm a ladies' man! I... I like girls, you know? And I'd never thought about liking... humm... about liking both sexes. I'd never thought about that before, and then, suddenly, Keith drop a bomb just like that on me! He, Keith Kogane, said that he liked me as more than a friend! He liked me! Me! How did this happen? And when did this happen? Because... because we were in the same class for a whole year and he'd never noticed me before. He didn't even know my name!”

“Maybe he was dealing with a lot of stuff at the time. That's why he'd never noticed you before,” The galra said, surprising himself.

It was the oddest feeling. He didn't know Lance that well and he was quite sure that he didn't know the other human either, however he could understand the suffering through which Lance was going. He could comprehend the sadness, the frustration, and, for some reason, he could even comprehend – and feel – the bitter pain of rejection.

For some reason, he was able to understand everything.

“When he confessed to me, I got scared and I reacted in the worst possible way,” Lance kept talking, completely focused on his own inner turmoil to notice anything at all. “I acted like a coward and avoided him for days. And of course Keith realized what I was doing, because, he can be dense as hell and so socially awkward it hurts, but he isn't stupid, and I wasn't exactly being subtle. All of a sudden, I started questioning myself about things that I'd never questioned before, and I was so confused and scared that I... that I stayed away from him, wouldn't look at him or talk to him. I just... I just didn't know what to think or feel. In the end, he was so hurt that I bet he was thinking that I hated him. And then, that damned mission happened, and Keith risked everything for me! I hurt him, I hurt him bad, and he still risked his own life for me.”

“He did what he thought was right.”

“Right? Right? He pretty much gave himself to the enemy! There's nothing right about it!” Lance almost hollered, but the galra just kept facing him, unfazed by the outburst. Feeling his throat constrict, he paused to take a few deep breaths before continuing. “Do you know what is funny?” Asked the blue paladin, laughing with sadness and looking the galra straight in the eye. “I wasn't kidding when I sad you remind me of him. You really do. The stupid hair, the cocky attitude, man, seriously, if you weren't a freaking galra I could swear you... Damn it!” He cursed and punched the ground with the back of his fist. “You remind me so much of him that everytime I look at you I think that I'm here, stuck on this quiznak of a planet, doing absolutelly nothing while I could be out there, looking for him! Keith's probably being tortured by the galra right now, and here I am being completely useless.”

The galra didn't quite know what to say, because it was really hard to find the right words to say to the distressed human. Hesitantly, he tried his best to sound reassuring:

“But maybe he's doing okay, Lance,” He said with optimism. “He's a tough guy, right? You said it yourself.”

“And that's the problem! Keith is a freaking hotheaded who doesn't know when to quit and never runs away from a fight. And what if the galra got tired of his attitude? What if they... what if they killed him? Oh, my God! What if he died thinking that I hated him? Because I... I... I don't! I could never! I was just confused, but I didn't... I don't... I don't hate him! Much to the contrary, I think that I'm in lov--”

Lance couldn't finish the sentence. His shoulders sagged, and he lowered his head and buried his face on his hands, muffling a scream of pure agony. Then, his thin body started shaking so violently that the galra got scared.

“Lance,” He murmured, concerned and hesitant, leaning forward and resting one small hand on the boy's shoulder. “What's going on? Are you feeling sick again? Is it the fever? You're shaking so bad...”

“Dude, are you for real? I'm crying! That's what is going on!” His all but hysterical voice reverberated, and Lance raised his head, face with tears and bloodshot eyes staring at the galra. “What the quiznak! How can you be so dense? Give me a break, okay? I'm crying and feeling all sad and devastated and I'm clearly in need of a hug!

“A... a hug?” The galra stuttered, and Lance made an impatient gesture with his hands.

“Yeah, a hug! So, come on! What are you waiting for?”

The galra's eyes got wide and, after a moment of hesitation, he put both his hands on Lance's shoulders and brought him closer, letting the human bury his tear-streaming face on his chest. He hugged the paladin tight and everytime he felt the human's body shudder, the hug became even tigher than before, doing his best to comfort Lance.

“Everything is gonna be alright,” He whispered and felt Lance trembeling in his arms, crying and crying and crying. “You'll see, Lance... you'll find your friend, and everything will be alright.”

 


End file.
